With the much-anticipated, much-coveted Lanvin x H&M collection debuting at select H&M locations across the country on Saturday, budget-conscious women everywhere are champing at the bit, wondering if they should brave the early-morning lines to get their hands on a piece of Alber Elbaz’s foray into the budget fashion world.

Our institutional advice on that matter is yes, absolutely, go get your ruffled cocktail dresses before everyone else gets them. But don’t do so without being prepared for the task that you’re about to face. Luckily for you, we have some tips for coming away with exactly the pieces you want (and maybe a few that you’re undecided about).

1. Get up early. This should be a no-brainer, but I’m sure people will wander into their local H&M throughout the weekend and then become absolutely indignant when every piece isn’t immediately available in their size. Anyone else out there who has worked in big-box retail in the past is probably nodding along with me in silent,christian louboutin nude heels, knowing agreement. If you want stuff, set your alarm, make yourself some coffee, put on your warmest coat and go WAIT. When I worked at an electronics store in college, I saw people camp out for days, in winter, to get PS3s. Literally, we had to have a port-a-potty brought for them to use and they were ordering pizzas and having them delivered to the parking lot. For like a week. A couple hours is not that big of a deal. You can take a disco nap later.

2. Don’t go to the wrong H&M. In this case, select stores means someone will sit outside of some random H&M in the suburbs for absolutely no reason. This kind of collection only gets shipped to urban flagships, so if there’s any doubt in your mind, check the list on H&M.com. And even if there isn’t any doubt in your mind, check it anyway. I’d hate for you to be That Girl.

3. You’re going to need a helmet. Your bike helmet will do in a pinch,how much do christian louboutin shoes cost, but a football helmet with full face mask and a chin guard is preferable. Perhaps watch some football videos on YouTube as well. The debut of a line this big always prompts pushing, jostling and lots and lots of side-eye sneering, and being equipped with a helmet not only allows you to use your head as a weapon to knock people away from the display racks, but it also protects you in case some over-caffeinated 20-something tries to beat you to death over the last faux-pearl necklace. Don’t scoff, it could happen.

4. Just grab stuff. Once you get inside, it’s going to be pandemonium. If you see something you might like, try your best to quickly locate your size and then just…buy it. You can always return it later, and trying on at home is a lot better than trying on in a cramped, hot (H&M dressing rooms are always the hottest place on the face of the planet) dressing room while droves of fashionistas hungrily lick their chops in anticipation of your castoffs. That’s some serious The Walking Dead stuff right there, and you don’t need that kind of pressure. Be efficient,pink christian louboutin, and don’t do anything in the store that can be done at your house.

5. Be aware of the prices beforehand. We all love a good $39.95 H&M dress, but ladies, these are not going to be those dresses. Their prices are going to be of the three-figure variety, and if you’re not prepared for that, ignore everything I’ve said so far, stay home,christian louboutin blue suede pumps, and sleep in. Let your over-enthusiastic friends do the hard work and then poach from their hauls. That’s what a young Kate Moss would have done, right?

6. Speaking of friends… If you have one who would like to go along, but you’re unsure if she’d be willing to cut someone on your behalf, leave her at home. She is not yet ready to do battle.

It’s been a full month since all of the fashion week festivities started,christian louboutin size 34, and they’ve finally come to an end. Showing at the very end of the cycle can either be a blessing or a curse; if what you’ve put together is merely mediocre (or worse,real christian louboutin shoes on sale, if it’s flat-out bad), critics and buyers are more likely to look harshly on it because of our fatigue at four weeks worth of clothes and accessories. If the collection you’re presenting is as good as beautifully fetishistic Louis Vuitton Fall 2011, though, then you get the glorious distinction of closing out the season on a high note and having your clothes by foremost in the minds of editors.

Vuitton is not a handbag company that I normally look to for my own purchases because of my personal preference toward bags without logos,christian louboutin navy pumps, but its fall accessory offerings were easily some of the best of the entire season. The central idea of the handbag collection was a theme and variations starring the brand’s ever-popular Lockit shape, much like the Speedy iterations that we saw from Vuitton for Fall 2010. It’s an idea that worked well then and works well now, with the disciplined lines of the Lockit lending themselves seamlessly to the upscale kink of the Vuitton ready-to-wear. Let’s not talk about the fuzzy bags and pretend those never happened, ok? Everything else was too good of a distraction.

Here’s Fergie toting her trusty Saint Laurent Ligne Y Tote around Santa Monica. As you can see, she is still heavily pregnant. Thankfully, she’s staying out of her signature platform pumps and trekking around town in a pair of comfy Nike Air Jordan 1 Retro sneakers. (There’s further evidence that old school high-tops are making a comeback over on TalkShoes.) You can pick up Fergie’s Saint Laurent bag at Nordstrom for $2,christian louboutin sample sale nyc,695. Her sweet vintage-style kicks are available for $115 at Nike.

We saw Fergie with this bag a few months ago, before we even knew what to call it. As you can see, it bears a striking resemblance to the insanely popular Yves Saint Laurent Cabas ChYc Tote. (Amanda outlined the differences between the two bags in this post from January.) Popular sentiment still leans towards the Yves Saint Laurent version,pigalle christian louboutin, but that may change if and when the Saint Laurent brand eclipses its historied Yves Saint Laurent legacy.

On with our day of Tuesday Totes,christian louboutin duvette, I have found yet another brown tote. As much as customessaysinuk.co.uk I am a lover of totes, christian louboutin shoes sale, all of the browns for fall are making me feel very drab. But this Coach Suede Beaded Tote is at least easier on your wallet than many other bags out there. I love this tote because it adds a little bit of fun to an overall ‘safe’ bag- and by safe I mean not daring with color or design (hey, why should it? It’s a brown suede tote!) The strips of bright bugle beads do not immediately stand out, but upon further inspection they give the bag quite a nice finishing touch. The rest of the bag is adorned in soft brown (actual color is called Flint) suede and is trimmed in metallic leather. The inside is lined in fabric and has inside zip pockets including a cellphone/multi-function pocket. Being a zip top closure is quite a perk for a tote,christian louboutin bianca, which makes it a little safer to carry around. The handles are an adjustable 17 1/2Ã¢â‚¬Â and the bag measurements are 15 3/8 (L) x 10 1/2 (H) x 4 3/8 (W). This tote can be yours for $358 via Coach.

If you’re a regular PurseBlog reader, then you know we’ve covered the Valentino Rose Vertigo Shopper in the past. I gave it a rave back then in a shade of Barbie pink, and I thought it was worth a revisit for fall.

We don’t normally revisit bags, but this bag demonstrates better than any other bag I can think of how the change of a color can change a bag’s entire look. In hot pink, the bag was like something Elle Woods would wear in Legally Blonde flamboyant, over-the-top,christian louboutin black patent pumps, and ultra girly. When you take the exact same bag with the same sumptuous leather and change it to a medium grey, though, the bag’s mood changes completely. It’s still utterly fabulous, but the effect is very different. Instead of being girly and glam, the bag is edgy and hip,christian louboutin decollete pump, which would appeal to an entirely different consumer. Plus,buy christian louboutin shoes, the wonderful grey would look amazing with jeans and a sleek sweater when cold weather arrives since the color gives the bag a more casual profile. How the bag differs from one color to the next is a reminder to us all how much just one thing can change a bag’s entire appeal. Buy through Nordstrom for $2395.

In all honesty, the Chloe Paddington is probably why I’m here today. It was the first designer handbag to totally capture my attention when I started to become interested in bags circa 2005, and although I never had the funds to buy one back then, I searched eBay daily, hoping for a good deal on my elusive cream-colored Paddy. And I wasn’t the only one that caught the Paddington fever fashion magazines dubbed it the fastest-selling bag in history and our Purse Forum, then in its infancy, talked non-stop of ways to acquire one.

And now, approximately four years later, I saw a Paddington on Nordstrom‘s website today and it got me thinking how does the purse world feel about this historic handbag a few years down the road from its peak popularity?

When I look at it,christian louboutin ny, I feel mostly nostalgia it reminds me of the period in fashion where an It-Bag was the most important thing in the world and waitlists were a mile long for almost anything worth buying. Bags are certainly more available now in general and the Paddington, once impossible to find, is now fairly common. Does the bag stand the test of time? I think so,christian louboutin for less, although looking back,christian louboutin collection, I like some of the other variations better than the original (the ginormous Paddington Tote comes to mind). The big lock is still really cool, the colors and the leather that they use are still great, and the bag is still fairly functional,christian louboutin yellow shoes, if notoriously weighty. And even if you’re not a fan, or just not a fan anymore, you’ve still got to admit that it holds a fairly unique place in modern handbag history. The biggest difference between the Paddington of yore and that of today,christian louboutin sale online, though? The price.Buy through Nordstrom for $1875.

With the surprising news yesterday morning that Balenciaga would be parting ways with Nicholas Ghesquiere, its creative director for 15 years and a man widely considered to be among the most talented (if not the most talented) designers in the entire industry, it seemed only fair that we look back on Ghesquiere’s inimitable legacy at the French house. Ghesquiere’s influence on the entirety of fashion is undeniable (the Balenciaga Did It First Tumblr is a pretty damning roundup of how other major designers have borrowed, both subtly and not-so-subtly, from Ghesquiere’s body of work), but naturally,christian louboutin shoes men, our loyalties lie with his brilliant handbags.

The Balenciaga Motorcycle Bags,christian louboutin discount websites, then known as the Balenciaga Le Dix, made their runway debut in 2001 at the urging of models in the brand’s show, who loved Nicolas’ first bag design for the brand. Balenciaga’s corporate leaders weren’t so convinced,christian louboutin red bottoms, but the bags debuted anyway and a star was born. Since then, those first bags (known as the Flat Brass bags because of – you guessed it – their flat studded hardware) have been turned into dozens on top of dozens of shapes, colors, materials and prints and created a huge windfall for a designer whose challenging, forward-thinking ready-to-wear creations tend to be a bit of a hard sell to the average fashion customer. Below, revisit some of Ghesquire’s greatest handbag triumphs from his incredible stint at Balenciaga. If we left out your favorite bag,christian louboutin ny, let us know in the comments.

9 Of course, we’ll start at the beginning: The Balenciaga Flat Brass Classique is the bag that started it all. Images of these bags from back in the day are almost impossible to come by, but here’s a personal photo from one of our Forum members who’s lucky enough to own an original. Another enthusiast (and still-frequent carrier) of the flat brass design? Kate Moss.

9 Even though the bags started out in black and brown, brights have been a Balenciaga staple since shortly thereafter. Long before it was fashionable, Balenciaga turned out bags in every shade from bubblegum pink to sunflower yellow, and the particularly good colors quickly became tough to find and profitable to flip on sites like eBay. Of them all,christian louboutin cheap, this gorgeous apple green from 2005 still looks just as fresh and crisp as it did almost eight years ago. (Gulp.)

9 Another place that Balenciaga was ahead of the handbag curve? Prints. They’re commonplace now, but when the Balenciaga Floral City Bag came out in 2008, it seemed untenably bold. The bags didn’t sell all that well back then, but that’s the curse of being able to see the future like Ghesquiere apparently can. He was ready for it before we caught up.

9 The bold stripes of the Balenciage Damask Courier from 2006 were a little easier to take, even back then – this bag wasn’t just a favorite of Nicole Richie’s, but of bag buyers in general.

9 If nothing else (and there is plenty else), the legacy of Ghesquiere at Balenciaga is one of thinking forward. The holographic leather trend for Resort and Spring 2013 that feels incredibly modern and cool and fresh for designer accessories? Balenciaga did a matte croc version way back in 2009.

9 A couple of years ago, Balenciaga started adding its Motorcycle Bag details to a series of straw hobos and totes for warmer weather. The greatest result of that idea? The beachy, luxe Balenciaga Panier Tote.

9 Just by looking at the picture, I bet you can guess what I’ll say about the Balenciaga Lune Tote. Yes, it came years before the Celine Luggage Tote, and it has much the same feel – modern, but with a few old-world details. The gussets flare, too, if you want them to.

9 The only bag I ever regretted selling was my Balenciaga Holiday 2005 Pewter First Bag. I eBayed it back when I was still in college, and if I had it now, I’d never let it go. The metallics from Fall 2004 and Holiday 2005 were a big hit among Bal fans.

9 And of course, my personal favorite: My Balenciaga Giant Day Bag in violet from Spring 2007, from my What’s In Her Bag feature. I’ve likely logged more hours with this bag on my shoulder than any in my collection, and the colors on the front and back are mismatched enough to prove it.

Cancer. Unfortunately,green christian louboutin shoes, one in three of us will get cancer at some point in our lives. Even if you personally don’t get a form of cancer,christian louboutin shoes sale, chances are you know someone close to you who has battled, is battling or will battle cancer. Luckily,christian louboutin decollete pump, cancer research is conducted and improved daily. Handbag.com and Cancer Research UK have partnered to launch the first ever Handbag Amnesty. September is Handbag.com’s dedicated handbag month and ending in October, this cause will offer the opportunity to bid on one of the many designer handbags donated by a celebrity in order to raise money to help beat cancer. Some of our favorite celebrities are donating some fabulous handbags to the cause. Please visit Handbag Amnesty for complete details.

The Handbag Amnesty, however, is not just about celebrities. Handbag.com and Cancer Research UK are also asking members of the public to donate a handbag that is still in good condition to their local Cancer Research UK shop. Good handbags always sell like hot cakes in Cancer Research UK’s nationwide chain of charity shops.

Paul Farthing, Director of High Value Relationships at Cancer Research UK, says: ‘We’re delighted to be working with Handbag.com to launch Handbag Amnesty… We also hope that by encouraging supporters to donate their own favorite handbag, and other unwanted quality items to our shops, we will be able to raise even more to help beat cancer.’

As previously mentioned, it is unfortunate, but too many of us have felt the effects of cancer. Below you will find some of our favorite celebrity donated handbags. Visit Handbag Amnesty for a complete list of bags up for auction as well as more information on how you can help out! Who knows,barbie by christian louboutin, you might win a new bag and a help find a cure all at the same time.

Sharon Osbourne donated Louis Vuitton.

Like mother, like daughter, Kelly Osbourne also donated a cream handbag this time a fabulous clutch by Marc Jacobs.

Without a doubt, Mulberry had one of the very best handbag collections of the Fall 2012 show season. The brand featured more purses than ever on its runway, and the results were excellent most of you seemed to find at least a couple options that you’d like to add to your collection,christian louboutin 70, in a perfect world. Well,christian louboutin atlanta, get our your credit cards, ladies. Your world might be about to get perfect.

Our friends at Moda Operandi have assembled the best accessories from the show for a Mulberry Fall 2012 presale. Unfortunately,christian louboutin rosella flats, that also means that we now know the prices for a lot of the utterly drool-worthy runway bags,christian louboutin simple 85, and they might be a little rich for your (or my) blood. The amazing fire orange Alexa, for instance? $3150. The black Alexa with multicolored studs? $2750. I always have a knack for picking the most expensive thing out of any given group. If you’re so inclined, the MO presale runs through March 19.

Check out the bag and coat I im craving from Rebecca Minkoff Fall 2013

I always look forward to Rebecca Minkoff’s runway show. Since Minkoff first took to Fashion Week,christian louboutin alti, the buzz around her has grown,christian louboutin pigalle plato, and her show and namesake brand have exploded as well. Rebecca’s downtown girl took a voyage into the future this season, when a trip to the moon combined with a sophisticated grunge attitude. Even though Rebecca Minkoff is known for her bags,christian louboutin collection, her outerwear is a force to be reckoned with and comes in a close second as my favorite category from the designer.

While I’d be thrilled to wear anything from Rebecca Minkoff Fall 2013,christian louboutin yellow pumps, there was one coat and bag that caught my eye and I’d love to have now and forever. The Venus Jacket in black and white tech tweed with a fur collar and the super futuristic green and blue holographic Rebecca Minkoff Elle bag must be mine. With tons of leather accents, a tomboy-like appeal and a modern touch, both of these items would fit into my wardrobe and be worn often. Rebecca is always in tune with her fans, the Minkettes,beige christian louboutin, and to help tide us over until the entire Fall 2013 collection hits stores, Rebecca has hand selected a few items straight from the runway that you can buy now via Rebecca Minkoff online.